LG Display Q4 net down 77.9%

South Korean panel giant LG Display Co. said Thursday its fourth-quarter net plunged 77.9 percent from a year earlier amid the falling prices of TV panels in the global market.

Net profit reached 70.8 billion won ($65.9 million) in the October-December period, compared with a profit of 319.7 billion won a year earlier, LG Display said in a regulatory filing.

Sales dropped 19 percent on-year to 7.07 trillion won in the fourth quarter, while the company posted an operating profit of 256.9 billion won, down 56.2 percent from 502.9 billion won a year ago.

For the whole of 2013, however, LG Display logged a net profit of 418 billion won, up 77.3 percent from a year earlier, with sales and operating income reaching 27 trillion won and 1.16 trillion won, respectively.

It marked the first time in three years that the company posted an operating profit above the 1 trillion won mark.

Shares of LG Display closed at 26,850 won on the Seoul bourse, down 0.37 percent from Wednesday’s close. The fourth-quarter results were released after the market closed. (Yonhap News)